Turkish media said that F-16 warplanes will fly over the capital, Ankara, on Monday, to test the Russian S-400 missile defense system.

This development comes despite Washington's continued pressure on Turkey to compel it to abandon the Russian system.

Ankara's purchase of the Russian system was a major factor in the strained relations with Washington, which says that this system is inconsistent with NATO's defenses and poses a threat to the US fighter plane, "F-35", which is able to hide from radar devices.

On Sunday, the Ankara governor’s office announced that F-16 fighter jets and other fighters of the Turkish Air Force would conduct low- and high-altitude flights over Ankara on Monday and Tuesday to test an "air defense system project."

"CNN Turk" and other media said that the sorties are specifically aimed at testing the "S-400" radar system.

Turkey began receiving the defense system last July, but it has not yet entered operations.

Last Thursday, a senior US State Department official said that Turkey should "get rid of" the Russian "S-400" system.

The statements came after US President Donald Trump hosted his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House earlier this month.

Trump described the meeting as "wonderful."

But it was not clear whether the two countries in the NATO alliance had made any progress on the issue of the "S-400" system.

Erdogan later said that US pressure to abandon the "S-400" system constitutes an infringement of his country's sovereign rights.

The United States has suspended Turkey's participation in the F-35 fighter jet program to punish it for purchasing the Russian system.

It has threatened sanctions over the deal, but has not yet done so.